Conventional devices for slowing, disabling, immobilizing and/or restricting the movement of a land vehicle include barriers, tire spike strips, caltrops, snares and electrical system disabling devices. For example, conventional spike strips include spikes projecting upwardly from an elongated base structure that is stored as either a rolled up device or an accordion type device. These conventional spike strips are unfurled or unfolded and placed on a road in anticipation that an approaching target vehicle will drive over the spike strip. Successfully placing a conventional spike strip in the path of a target vehicle results in one or more tires of the target vehicle being impaled by the spike(s), thereby deflating the tire(s). This can make it difficult for the driver to maintain control of the vehicle and can result in personal injury and/or property damage.
Conventional devices may be used by first response personnel, law enforcement personnel, armed forces personnel or other security personnel. It is frequently the case that these personnel must remain in close proximity when deploying these devices. For example, a conventional method of deploying a spike strip is to have the personnel toss the spike strip in the path of an approaching target vehicle. This conventional method places the security personnel at risk insofar as the driver of the target vehicle may try to run down the security personnel or the driver may lose control of the target vehicle while attempting to maneuver around the spike strip and hit the security personnel. Further, rapidly deflating only one of the steering tires may cause a target vehicle to careen wildly and possibly strike nearby security personnel, bystanders, or structures.
Accordingly, there are a number of disadvantages of conventional devices including difficulty deploying these devices in the path of a target vehicle and/or the risk to security personnel while deploying or retracting these devices. The proximity of the security personnel to the target vehicle when the vehicle encounters these devices also may place the security personnel at risk of being struck by the vehicle. Further, these devices have limited or no ability to selectively engage a target vehicle and allow other vehicles to safely pass.